Interview with 'The Conquer of Two Worlds'

Everyone knows how hard is to win a big competition in Hattrick. Everyone knows how hard is to win multiple times different competition in Hattrick. But how hard (and beautiful) is to win multiple competitions with different teams in the same time? We asked questions to someone who already achieved it: GM-Zabal (7562577)!

Did you adopt the same build strategy for your 2 teams, or something different for each? Please explain the differences and similarities between the two teams

With my main team, I chose the classic way : one line to train, money coming in and then trying to train a U20 :p
I managed to buy Cuzi (258642323), Mtangi (254190510) and Schweitzer (247446475). They were at the center of my training strategy. I climbed to the top thanks to them. Then, I trained defensive forwards while always staying in D.I. But training is less important.

In Cuba, I also chose the classic way to start with and trained one line. Then, I was lucky to scout a skilled youth player, Arias (390541020). This was the first time I would train one of my youth player in my senior team ! So he was at the center of my team’s building strategy, I also promoted all the way to D.I ! I’m also proud that Arias is going to play in the World Cup for Cuba (T2), and it will be a first for his country ! I train also Anen (398384116)! So I’m still in a full training phase and don’t have any psychologist for example…

Do you ever wake up in the middle of the night realising that you need to change/set some order for a match in your 2nd team's youth academy, or things like that?

Sometimes, I’m confused by all these match orders or bids on players ! For example, I bid on a player and then I’m about to realise that I did it with the wrong team ! Anyway, so far, I made no mistake :p
Or I even think I changed training for the wrong team ^^

Do you think that running your second team so well has made you a better manager of your first team? Please could you give examples to help explain your answer?

Not really, as I’m also in D.I with my main team ^^
However, I noticed that some player profiles were missing from my main team. For example, a true normal forward. I also realised that training a homegrown player really boosted the ratings (the small red heart ^^) !

You have a third team. Are you still competitive with all three? (a lot of people know they can't pay attention to all three in the same way)

With my 3rd team, I first wanted to collect very difficult achievements with my teams, such as the nasty players or the popular players…
I also want to try things that I can’t try otherwise, such as build a team specialized in long shots. So now I’m trying to earn money to buy the right profiles and start using the tactic. The good thing is that I don’t need to spend much time on it. Also, if you play long shots, you have to forget about managing confidence, having good wings or maintaining your formation experience;)

What's your philosophy on aiming for trophies? Should you focus on one competition (for example the cup) and let the engine do the rest in the league, or do you go full power at both competitions?

Every season, I play to try to win it all!:) It’s very hard, because there are other powerful teams and random is becoming important when a lot of matches are tight. Sometimes, I deserved to be champion but the engine wouldn’t let me, but not this season. Sometimes, it was the other way around:) I’ve been playing in the top division in Luxembourg for 18 seasons, and in Cuba for 5 seasons. Still, I want to win everytime !
Over time, you always see the same managers at the top and rivalries last. And in Luxembourg, I know several of them IRL so we have a lot of fun teasing each other:p
The hardest part though, is the season following a title because you have to play the Masters which means you have to make choices if you want to have the best chances to win a Masters match:)

Same question, but relating your teams. Do you play at your best with all teams, or do you give more focus to one of them (maybe changing it seasons after seasons)? With your 3rd team will be different, or will you take some time to rebuild your team, changing strategy, as a lot of top managers are used to do?

At the moment, I think my second team is the best ! It’s younger, I have a wider diversity of players and a lot of the players in my first team have a bad form ; it’s hard^^
In any case, I am playing every match for the win or at least for a draw against a strong opponent !
My third team will be full of LS players, it will take time but it will be nice. I’ve always had strong offensive ratings with my teams and I never played in 550 haha:D

What about HM and how does that affects your league and cup runs? Did you ever think about a Treble?

It’s really hard! There has never been an easy match and I’ve often had bad luck! Plus, I never spend money to buy excellent players, so I use my current players. The best I did was round 4, I’ll try better! The hardest part is to manage both, as I said. You play it cool in league with the Masters in mind while you could have played it normal if it wasn’t for th Masters, so you can lose points… I prefer not to spend everything to try to go as far as possible and avoid bankruptcy!
In small countries though, the Masters are really hard: for example, in Cuba, I played in quarters final of the Cup while I had a Masters match the next Monday! It’s complicated, there are no more free PICs unlike bigger countries, where you can afford to play without your best players. But still, you’ve got other advantages ^^

You're not playing in big countries; do you think it really help you to have success, and how much?

Cuba is a small country with lots of second teams. Luxemburg is bigger, there used to be 500 teams and you know everyone in real life! Since you know everyone well, it’s not that easy because the average level is high and everyone knows the game. In Cuba, there are very good managers so it’s also difficult.
In comparison with the bigger countries, you’ve got an advantage with youth players and their higher price. But the Cup is shorter so you’ve got less income, including from the stadium usage. It’s also harder to find local players for your team, so you’ve got high salaries.

How much would you like to be the first one to win 3 National Titles with 3 different teams?

It would be amazing! But I first want to win a double!
This season was double in Luxemburg and title in Cuba along with the smaller cup. It wasn’t the « real deal », so I can start from there on :D

However with HTI and its 5,000 divisions spread across 6 divisions, it’s a big league and it will take time to climb to the top by playing LS :p

On a personal point of view, regarding just your team managements, how much time do you spend to be so successful? It often happens that after reaching titles and cups, you get more relaxed and play more confident spending less time; is it the same for you, or do you keep studying thinking you always have to learn?

Not much actually!
I buy very few players. For example, now I’m done purchasing and selling players till next season. And I’ve got specific player profiles ready, while from time to time I can find an interesting player on the transfer market :) Apart from that, my lineup is decided and I only change 1 or 2 players depending on the form or a red card in my team or my opponent’s! What takes time is review your opponent but you always end up playing against the same managers when you’re at the top so you have a good idea of how the match will be. The hardest part is trying to guess if your opponent will play match of the season or not or to guess if maybe, just this time he's going to try to take the possession outside.. :p
About Mots, it often happens in the round of 32 or 16 in the Cup ( before playing in neutral ground) , because you want to defeat a team from the highest division, no matter how :D

But I spend most of my time with my youth players. It’s the most important to me, as I earn a lot of money from it by trying to get as much good players as possible. So that’s it, I spend time on my 3 academies but it’s worth it!

At the moment, I learn things about long shots :)

Thank you very much for your time, and all the best for future successes with your clubs L'auberge espagnole (463279) (https://wiki.hattrick.org/wiki/L'auberge_espagnole) in Lëtzebuerg, Vivre ensemble ou mourir seul (2012541) in Cuba and Coconut Club (2056290) in Hattrick International!

Thanks for asking all these questions, I hope you learned some things! Come pay my club a visit, the drinks will be on me: beer, piña colada or mojito! :p

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Editor's note: if you have question for GM-Zabal, or if you'd like to comment the article, feel free to join our forum discussion here: (17132394.1)

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